And the spring is in with an icy blast of snow and ice from the Russian steppes, which is interesting, as this week my daughter is moving to Moscow. I guess this is Nature’s way of making me feel connected, although honestly I’d settle for a nice furry hat and some snow boots. However, the weather has forced me to spend more time than ever in the Shed (which is by far the warmest place at draughty Chateau Harris), where THE STRAWBERRY THIEF is moving slowly forwards, the proofs for THE TESTAMENT OF LOKI have been sent off and I’m in the process of finishing  reading the last of the Betty Trask Prize entries AND judging a Fragrance Foundation scent award, which involves me trying on dozens of numbered scent samples and  putting them into categories. Basically, all my favourite occupations rolled into one, with the extra bonus of copious amounts of tea and biscuits

(of which the Shed always has an emergency supply).  Last week I was in London, recording the new unabridged audiobook of CHOCOLAT. I’m hoping it will come out next year to co-incide with the 20th anniversary of the novel’s publication – and we’ll be celebrating in some other ways, too.  I know that  some of you have been waiting impatiently for this audiobook – the rights were sold for peanuts many, many years ago, and I’ve only just managed to get them back. If you enjoy this one, I might have a go at recording BLACKBERRY WINE next.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to my ko-fi account, which has now raised nearly 50% of its projected target! As a result, the #Storytime CD is now in production, and the band and I will be selling copies as we tour this spring. Check out the Events page to find out where we’ll be. And Bonnie is hard at work on a series of stunning illustrations for THE BLUE SALT ROAD, which I’m hoping we’ll see published in October…

Meanwhile, there’s always the newsletter, which this month will give you a chance to win a proof copy of TESTAMENT, as well as giving you a glimpse of an extract…